


Building Trust

by Sylthfarn



Category: Tales of Berseria, Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Eizen is mentioned, Gen, Rated T for the fuck word, Sickfic, This is an Au btw, takes place between berseria and zestiria
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 04:24:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20886077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylthfarn/pseuds/Sylthfarn
Summary: Zaveid has been looking after Edna because Eizen refuses to come home and do it himself. But things remain strained between the two, and become even worse when Edna comes down with an illness.





	Building Trust

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU where Zaveid looks after Edna which is why!!! Berseria terminology (malakhim) is used. Edna is a bit over 300, solidly between there and 400 I think.
> 
> Special shout-out to my beautiful friend Zi who actually rps both of these characters but like, is also the Zaveid to my Edna

Zaveid had been living with Edna for only a couple decades. The arrangement thus still felt  _ new,  _ but Eizen had made Zaveid promise...so as a result, Edna was stuck with him. She wasn't happy about it, he quickly learned, but Edna wasn't really the type to be happy about much of anything. Particularly when her brother was still running around with Aifread's crew. The strong resonance as a result of Innominat had mostly faded, but Eizen continued to curse Benwick with his assistance. She had been particularly sulky the past few days, and Zaveid was beginning to grow worried. Was she going through Malakhim puberty? Was that even a thing? He dealt with kids a lot, sure, but that had been with Theodora. And the children he  _ usually _ dealt with were humans. The last two Malak kids were...well, Silva and Laphicet. But neither of them were around anymore.

Edna's only 300 years younger than him, but she has the stubbornness of her thousand year old brother. So asking her directly what was wrong might be a mistake. She's more likely to hit him with something. Though it rarely hurt, he'd rather not waste the time. 

He wonders how to bring it up, when a sudden noise makes up his mind for him. Edna had...just...coughed. And it wasn't a dainty cough, like she was trying to get his attention. She was in her bedroom, reading a book Eizen had sent her filled with fairy tales. (He knew Eizen used to read her bedtime stories, but she had yet to ask him for one.) But the cough meant only one thing–Edna was coming down with something. 

It could just be a cough, nothing more extreme, a small annoyance that could be solved through the teas Theodora always made. But Eizen's warnings about Edna's previous weakness to illnesses makes him wary, and a feeling in his gut that it's something more is impossible to shake. He has to check on her, even if she hates it.

"Edna?" he asks, knocking lightly on her door frame. 

She doesn't look at him or say anything, but she sets down her book as she coughs once again. It's enough to compel him to lightly step into her room, approaching her like she's a wounded animal. With Edna, he can never be too careful.

"Are you feeling alright? I heard you coughing."

"'M fine," she says, but her voice is rough and the two words are enough to trigger another coughing fit, this one worse than the ones before. 

Zaveid hovers uncertainly next to her, his hands fluttering as if to put one on her head or shoulder but refusing to commit to the action. When Edna stops coughing, he manages to catch her eye, and he frowns in concern at the unusual paleness to her face and the bags under her eyes. Edna and Eizen might be pale as all hell, but Zaveid knows what they _ usually _ look like well enough to tell when something's off. And little Edna had always prized her sleep (Zaveid knows she's been sleeping more than usual the past couple days as well), that her seeming current exhaustion doesn't make sense. 

"I'm going to get you some tea," he finally says, standing up and, before he's able to stop himself, put a hand briefly on Edna's cheek. 

She pulls away from the contact almost immediately, but the damage is done. Zaveid stares at her speechlessly, hoping maybe he was wrong. She'll deny it, but that won't help. He knows it's true.

"You're burning up."

"I'm  _ fine _ ," Edna repeats, a bit testily this time, waving away his concerns with her hand. "Didn't you say you were making tea?"

Zaveid is reluctant to leave her. He stands slowly, still looking at her in concern, the gut feeling from earlier growing worse. But he promised her tea, so it might help. 

He heads to the kitchen, hesitating before beginning to prepare chamomile for her, his heart twisting in concern about what to do. He doesn't know how different Malakhim and humans are, so he can't be certain taking her to see a human doctor would be any good. It might just make her worse, forcing her to go to the human village and exposing her to Malevolence. 

His other option would be to contact Eizen, but who knows how long that would take? Even with the Turtlez available (despite the fact Eizen's friends managed to piss off the one rather badly), correspondence could take days. Days Edna might not have. Or days that might drag Eizen away from his crew only to find out there's nothing wrong with his baby sister, and it was just a small cough she's already over by the time he got there. As much as it pains him to admit, contacting Eizen won't be the best idea right now. …He also thinks he shouldn't tell Edna about the idea. 

The kettle whistles, and Zaveid removes it, still lost in thought as he continues to prepare Edna's tea. What would Theodora do? The thought is like a punch to the gut on top of his concern for Edna, but he struggles to get past it in hope of a solution. She always made soup for the children, didn’t she? And fetch medicine from town, but...that had always been human medicine. Once again he wonders how effective it would be for a Malak child instead. 

With a sigh, he finishes preparing the tea, using his wind powers to cool it down just enough for Edna to be able to drink it right away. He can already imagine her giving him a judgemental look, telling him it’s a total waste of his abilities, but at the moment he doesn’t care. He has a responsibility to take care of Edna, and he’d be damned if he broke that promise. Knocking lightly on the door to Edna’s room to announce his presence, he resolves to ask her what Eizen usually did when she was sick.

She puts her book down again, taking the mug of tea from him without a word, sipping it silently.

“So...I heard from your brother you used to get sick a lot,” Zaveid says hesitantly, sitting down on the bed next to her.

Edna snorts derisively, which is not a good sign. For a Malak who wasn’t even 400, she was pretty jaded, a trait that makes an uneasy feeling settle in his gut. That Velvet kid was pretty jaded too, but she was a human. Or had been, at least. It was different. ...He thinks. 

“I just wanted to ask...what did Eizen usually do for you when you’d…” his voice drifts off, because she looks–if somehow possible–even more pissed off than she was before.

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” she grumbles. 

It’s not the answer he wanted, but it’s something he could have expected. He sighs, rubbing his face and  _ praying  _ to the recently reawakened Empyreans to make this girl just a  _ little fucking easier  _ to deal with. He’s  _ just  _ about to tell her he’ll send a letter to Eizen, if that’s what it’ll take, when she surprises him.

“He’d usually...get me medicine from the village…” Edna says, her voice so quiet Zaveid could almost swear she didn’t speak at all. “But I’m  _ fine _ . Besides...he hasn’t been around to take care of me in forever anyway…”

Yeah, he really needs to have a talk with Eizen. His sister is  _ royally  _ pissed off, and Zaveid’s known enough women to know this is  _ really bad _ . Not to mention any irritation he might have had about Eizen leaving his baby sister before just about quadrupling. Probably because Edna was impossible to deal with when she was in a mood. And without Eizen, she was  _ always _ in a mood. This was not at all the very sweet though sometimes difficult girl Eizen had described. This was the very angry and always difficult nightmare he was trying his damn hardest to care for. 

He was going to write a letter to Eizen. That was decided. Even if Edna got over this illness before Eizen even replied, it didn’t matter. Because at this point, Zaveid had quite a few words for him. The chamomile tea seemed to be working, however, as Edna’s grip had grown rather slack on the mug. In order to avoid a spill and unnecessary cleaning, he gently takes it from her, setting it down on her bedside table. 

“Where’re you going?” Edna asks, her voice growing quieter as she slips further down in bed, her eyes beginning to drift shut.

“The other room,” Zaveid lies (well, it’s not  _ entirely _ a lie, right?). “I’m...going to write a letter to Eizen.”

“Good. Tell him he’s a bitch,” Edna mumbles. 

He waits for just a moment longer, gently brushing back her bangs as she falls asleep. Her fever is still high enough for him to be concerned, so he makes a mental note to get fever medication as soon as possible. In the meantime…

He sits down at what he assumes used to be Eizen’s desk, but now has Edna’s drawings and what appear to be plenty of unsent letters and drafts of unsent letters in return to Eizen. And now it’s time for Zaveid to write one of his own. 

_ Dear Dipshit, _

Wait. Maybe that’s coming on as too endearing. 

_ Hey Asshole, _

Hm. A bit closer.

_ Motherfucker-- _

No. 

_ Eizen, _

Simple and to the point. But probably the best way to start the letter. Zaveid scribbles out his (rather irritated) message as quickly as possible while still remaining legible. He doesn’t ask Eizen to come home, though. He won’t ask for that. He asked Eizen for it  _ once  _ and Eizen fucking punched him in return. And Empyreans only knew how long Edna had been asking for it. It just seemed that now she had Zaveid to take all her frustrations out on. But he wouldn’t blame her, he’d just pin the blame on the asshole who deserved it. 

He pauses for a moment in Edna’s kitchen, pulling out a recipe box. There might be something in there that would give him a hint as to what Eizen would make for Edna to keep her happy or help her feel better. There’s a couple promising soup recipes towards the front, and one recipe that’s rather well worn, sticking out because of the heart drawn next to the recipe name. It looked...difficult, and he had a hard time imagining Eizen ever making it. But it definitely seemed to be a favorite of Edna’s, so he tucked it into his pocket with the soup recipes. He’d go down to the human village, buy the ingredients, mail his letter, and get Edna medicine. And then maybe things would get a tiny bit better.

* * *

Zaveid has no idea what the fuck he was thinking. 

He had retrieved the ingredients necessary for a gentle chicken soup for Edna, and medicine that came highly recommended by the human doctor he’d purchased it from, and mailed his letter to Eizen. Everything he thought that would make life easier with Edna. Unfortunately, it seemed to have the opposite effect, as he was now facing a new challenge he somehow hadn’t foreseen. 

Edna was absolutely refusing to take her medicine. And her condition since he’d left had only gotten worse. Her coughing was near constant, and each fit seemed worse than all the ones before it. When she had actually allowed him close enough to check her temperature (which happened for just a brief moment) he found it higher than before he’d left. 

At the moment, she was buried in blankets and stuffed animals, complaining it was too cold, and telling Zaveid to go away. Though it wasn’t worded quite so politely. He needed to have a talk with Eizen about the words his sister was learning, honestly. The more pressing matter at the moment was taking care of her. 

With the ingredients he'd retrieved from the village, he gets to work on the soup recipe, pulling it out of his pocket and squinting at the instructions. Whoever wrote it (probably Eizen) didn't seem to think legibility so other people could read it would ever be an issue. Most of it seems simple enough, which he thinks might be due to a certain Reaper's Curse making cooking a hassle. Once all the ingredients have been prepared and thrown into a pot to simmer, Zaveid decides it might be time to check on Edna.

She's still sleeping, which isn't much of a surprise to him considering it's Edna. She's clinging to a stuffed animal rabbit, which Zaveid is very amused to notice has a miniature coat that looks suspiciously like Eizen's. He could wake her now and try to give her the medicine, or he could wait until the soup is ready. Edna coughs in her sleep, and Zaveid lets out a worried sigh. 

After the soup was finished, then. Edna needed her rest.

* * *

"Edna," Zaveid says softly, hoping to wake her up as gently as possible. 

When she doesn't wake up, he places a hand on her shoulder, wincing at how warm she feels.

"Edna," he calls again. "I made food. Come on."

Finally she mumbles something, blearily opening her eyes and sitting up. 

"Did you say food?" 

Well at least she  _ sounded  _ like typical old Edna. She yawns, pushing back the blankets as she stumbles out of bed. Zaveid grabs her by the elbow to help steady her, but she immediately jerks away, giving him a glare.

"I'm fine," she grumbles. "Where's the food?"

"In the kitchen," he says, standing aside and letting her shuffle her way there. He debates telling her about the medicine, but somehow he knows it will be difficult. It'd be better to let her at least eat first. 

He had already put some soup into a bowl for her and left it on the table at her usual seat. Edna gives it a  _ very  _ scrutinous look before finally picking up her spoon.

_ Thank the Empyreans.  _ Zaveid has no idea what he'd do if she stopped eating. (Though as Malakhim it wasn't  _ required _ , he couldn't help but feel it would aid Edna's recovery.) 

She eats mostly in silence, a few stifled coughs here and there, but she seems to prefer acting like they're not happening at all. Zaveid's trying his best not to hover over her because he knows it will make her stop what she's doing and probably yell at him. And yelling is the last thing she needs right now. Instead, he sets about putting away the unused ingredients and returning the recipe to its box, though he keeps the other one out still just in case. Finishing that, he ends up washing the dishes he used to cook, going slower than normal just to give Edna more time to finish her soup without him staring awkwardly at her. It was like living with a cat... she'd either give you all of her attention or ignore you entirely, and seemed to detest you staring at her without saying anything, particularly if you had a sympathetic look on your face.

Zaveid was truly committed to inventing mundane tasks to keep him from looking at Edna but still allow him to stay in the kitchen with her, but it seems it wasn't necessary. He'd finished drying and putting away the dishes when Edna suddenly stood up, picking up the bowl from the table and shuffling over to deposit it in the sink. Whether she intended on dealing with it later or making Zaveid handle it, he didn't know, but in all likelihood it would fall upon Zaveid to do later. Not that he minded, honestly. Edna needed her rest. 

And speaking of her current condition…

"Hey, before you go back to bed, I have some medicine for you," he says, picking up the bottle of medicine off the counter.

Edna gives it (and him) a look so poisonous he's momentarily struck by the need to use a healing spell on himself. 

"I don't need it. I'm not sick," she says, turning away, likely to head back to her room.

But Zaveid isn't going to give this up without a fight. Her fever had only gotten worse while he was in town, and there was only so much soup and sleep could do.

"Edna, you need to take it–"

"Fuck off, no I don't. I'm fine."

"No, you're not–"

"Yes, I am!"

“Edna,” he catches her by the wrist, and doesn’t let go even when she tries to pull her arm away. “I know you’re sick. You can’t keep that from me. I know the truth.”

“So what? Why do you care?” she asks, still tugging at her arm and refusing to look Zaveid in the eyes.

“Because I was sent here to take care of you,” Zaveid explains patiently.

“That doesn’t mean anything!”

“It means everything. I made a promise–”

“Shut up! I’m not your responsibility!” she snaps. 

“Edna, yes you are. I said I would take care of you, and that means even when you’re sick. I’m the only one who can, so  _ please _ trust me a little bit,” he says, attempting to make her hear the earnestness in his voice. Even if she didn’t know what his true name was, a promise  _ meant  _ something to him. Particularly when Eizen wasn’t here. 

“Just stop! Stop talking like that!” Edna’s shaking her head as if it will keep her from hearing what he has to say, her eyes sparkling with tears.

“Like what?”

“Like you’re  _ him!  _ Because you’re not! You  _ never  _ will be! You’re not my brother!”

The words sting, like a slap to the face, and Zaveid falters. He pauses for a moment, takes a deep breath, and tries to tell himself she doesn’t mean it. She’s feverish, and upset, and most important...lonely. He understands how that feels, doesn’t he?

Instead of letting her go, Zaveid pulls her towards him in a hug. Edna attempts to smack him a couple times, but when she realizes he’s not letting go, she seems to give up.

“I know I’m not Eizen,” he says softly. “But I care about you, Edna. I’m not trying to replace him. I...I’d never do that.”

"Shut up!" 

She's sobbing now, and keeps repeating it over and over again, shaking her head as she can no longer distance herself from Zaveid. And it hurts. Despite how long they've been together, her rejection at the moment seems to be worse than ever before. 

He can barely stand it, but he knows that she's the one he needs to take care of. He made a promise. An oath. No matter how much it took, how hard it hurt...he'd protect her. Even from an illness. 

He rubs her back soothingly, her tears staining his shirt and she continues crying. Taking a breath, Zaveid very quietly begins humming a lullaby Theodora used to sing to the children. He doesn't know if it'll help, but it's worth a shot. 

After a couple minutes, Edna's sobbing quiets down into sniffles…and eventually she stops crying altogether. He pulls back, about to ask her if she feels any better, when he notices she doesn't move away. 

"Cried herself to sleep...of course," Zaveid murmurs. 

It's surprisingly the first time he'd ever seen it happen. Edna wasn't really one for crying around others it seemed. Gently, he picks her up, intending on carrying her back to bed.  _ That _ at the very least was something he had practice with. 

She doesn't stir as he carefully moves her blankets and sets her down in her bed before tucking her in. It's weird how different (peaceful) Edna looks when she's asleep. Overcome with some remnant of Theodora's soft demeanor that had been transferred to him, he leans down and kisses her on the forehead. 

"Shit, I forgot to give her medicine," he mutters. But in his defense she'd been _ rather _ adamant against taking it. 

He only hopes her fever will lower with rest, though so far it hadn't. He can't even begin to imagine the other symptoms she was suffering from because she wasn't likely to tell him. Not knowing what to do in order to handle her symptoms was not comforting for either of them. He sighs, picking up a stuffed normin doll that had fallen off Edna's bed and gently tucks it in with her. In the meantime, maybe he could try searching Eizen's old room for any notes on how to handle the situation. 

* * *

It seems Eizen's room was a bust. He didn't keep a diary (that Zaveid could find) but it's also possible Eizen just took said diary with him. But without any idea of what would make Edna feel better until Eizen deigned to write back, Zaveid was at a loss. He decided to also check Edna's room, because while reading a girl's diary was an offense that would earn him a fuckton of stuffed animals thrown at him, it was also beginning to appear necessary. That was...if he could even find one in her room.

Edna was still sleeping soundly when he entered the room, and he had ducked back out to fetch a cold compress for her fever. She shuffled slightly when he gently placed it on her forehead, but aside from that she remained rather still. He breathes out a small sigh of relief and begins to search her room.

Nothing in particular stands out, though there is a box labeled "Edna's Savings" with a fair amount of gald in it, and Zaveid lets out a sigh, leaning back on his heels. Only to nearly have a heart attack as he notices Edna's normin plush is staring at him from on top of her bookshelf, though he  _ swears  _ the last time he saw that thing it was on Edna's bed. Picking up the offending plush, he goes to tuck it in with Edna, when she finally stirs.

Hopefully she's feeling a bit better, so Zaveid sits down on the edge of her bed, fussing with her blankets a bit more as she wakes up.

“Brother?” Edna mumbles. 

_ Shit _ . Her asking for her brother was  _ definitely  _ not a good sign. 

“No, Edna, it’s just me,” he says quietly, readjusting the compress on her forehead and praying that she was just confused momentarily. 

It seems that his prayers are going wildly unanswered today.

“Brother… ‘ve missed you,” she mumbles, reaching out in an attempt to grab Zaveid’s hand. 

Zaveid  _ very  _ hesitantly lets her. He can’t lie to her about being Eizen, can he? He said he’d never try to replace Eizen, and…  _ Empyreans, she's going to hate him for this if she remembers. _

He gently brushes back her hair, and she shuffles closer to him in a display of affection Zaveid has never once seen from her. Too bad it's because she thinks he's Eizen. But he swears– _ swears– _ -he's not going to betray this feverish and confused girl's trust. He won't try to be Eizen. He won't pretend to be Eizen. He won't–

"Zaveid was here," she says softly, her eyes still closed as she tightly holds his hand.

_ Oh. _

"I... I know. He...was asked to come to look after you, remember?"

Hopefully that's vague enough that he doesn't sound exactly like Eizen, but it's still weird to not refer to himself as Zaveid. But...if it's bringing her this peace…

Edna lets out a small him of assent, and Zaveid is hoping she goes back to bed soon and forgets this whole thing ever happened. 

"He's not the same as you."

Ouch.

"I… yeah, I know."

"But it's not…" Edna yawns before she finishes her sentence, and Zaveid's half relieved he didn't have to hear her finish. He doesn't think he can stand being rejected by Edna again today.

"Go to sleep," he whispers, kissing her on the forehead before adjusting the compress again. 

She sighs softly, still holding his hand, and Zaveid doesn't let go until he's sure she's fallen asleep.

* * *

It seems the recipe is his only hope at the moment, but it's ridiculously complex. Zaveid's now dedicated himself to looking it over again and again until he's certain of what he's doing before he's going to even attempt to start it. He's also decided to rewrite it so it looks genuinely legible for when he decides to make it later.

He hears a noise and turns, but only sees Edna's normin plush. The one he  _ swears _ he moved earlier. That's odd. Maybe a cat got in or something. He stands up, just about to check to make sure the door is closed, when he notices Edna's normin on his shoulder.

_ "GAH!  _ Where did you come from??" Even his jump of surprise isn't enough to knock the plush from his shoulder.

"I’ve always been here. ...Not  _ always  _ always, but longer than you. And even before Eizen sent me."

_ Holy fuck it talked _ . 

"Wait–you're a real normin?? I thought you were just some stuffed animal!" 

Zaveid's definitely having a crisis right now, because this thing witnessed his entire exchange with Edna earlier. Great! 

"Of course I'm a real normin" says the normin, looking offended. "I'm the most powerful normin, Phoe–"

Ah, yep. Never mind. Zaveid remembered this one now. 

"You said Eizen sent you?" he interrupts, unwilling to listen to the whole speech.

It was a little hard to believe, all things considered. Because all normin (and most Malaks) knew Phoenix was an annoying pain in the ass. 

"Yes, to look after little Edna. I confronted him after I saw her writing letters to him, and eventually I was sent here to protect her," Phoenix explains proudly.

There's a very heavy pause as Zaveid stares at the normin on his shoulder incredulously (which is rather difficult to pull off).

"...You saw her writing letters to him?"

"Well, she never  _ sent  _ any–"

“Alright, nope. That’s creepy. No wonder Eizen sent  _ me  _ here as well," Zaveid says quickly. "And Edna just...puts up with you?"

That was equally surprising, if not moreso, to Eizen actually tolerating this thing. Both siblings had extremely volatile tempers, but Edna's fuse was definitely shorter.

“Well, she doesn’t exactly know I’m here," Phoenix says slowly.

_ That'd explain it. _

"What do you mean by that?" Zaveid asks, crossing his arms and hoping this normin gets off his shoulder soon.

"I used to try to talk to her, but I think she prefers acting as if I’m just a stuffed animal. She’s said she only tolerates me talking at night because I was sent by Eizen."

"...Wow. I officially think I’m doing better than you in the whole ‘sent by Eizen to watch his little sister’ competition."

Which was really,  _ really  _ hard to believe considering how horribly he seemed to be doing in this competition. He gives Phoenix a pointed look, and the normin finally seems to get the hint, sliding down Zaveid's arm to stand on the table.

"Okay, I hate to ask this, but since you’ve been with Edna longer, what does Eizen usually do to make her feel better?" Zaveid says, turning away to put the original copy of the recipe away before adding, "Or...I guess, what does  _ Edna  _ do to make herself feel better?" 

That brings another question to mind, and Zaveid pauses, turning to look back at the normin.

“Wait a sec, how much do you even know about Eizen anyway?”

“Well, I fought him once and–"

“Never mind,” Zaveid interrupts, shaking his head. “I don’t like finding out I have things in common with you.”

He closes the recipe box and places it back in its rightful place at the back of the counter before finally sitting down with a sigh. Dealing with Edna was exhausting, but Phoenix was somehow worse. Still, now that the normin was here...

"Why did it take you so long to get out here and help me?" he asks, leaning forward and giving the normin a disdainful look. 

"I figured you would be capable on your own," Phoenix says with a shrug, and Zaveid snorts derisively in response.

"Well that's your first mistake, because I've been here for decades and Edna  _ still  _ hates me."

"She doesn't hate you," Phoenix says.

"I don't need your sympathy, it's fine," Zaveid says, fully intending on waving off whatever other pity words Phoenix has for him. Unfortunately it seems the normin will not be deterred.

"I would have thought you'd understand her better than that by now. She's just scared."

_ That  _ throws Zaveid for a loop. Edna wasn't scared of him. ...Was she?

"Scared? Of what? She's seen me be a dumbass before, there's no way I still intimidate her–"

"Not scared of you, exactly. Scared of accepting you," Phoenix interrupts. "She worries that if she thinks too much of you as a brother, if something happens to you it would be like Eizen all over."

"Oh." 

He thinks about when he told her he wasn't her brother. How she'd started crying in response. It was easy to assume she just hated him, viewed him as someone who was trying to fill the void it seemed Eizen had no intention of ever taking care of again. She didn't hate Zaveid for being here...she was scared of losing him. Being vulnerable around him. He's definitely kicking himself for not noticing earlier. 

But damn, getting a lecture by a normin, of all things? That's embarrassing. But Edna wasn't really the type to share her feelings, so at least now he knew the truth. 

"You're getting closer to her accepting you, I can tell," Phoenix says. "She never would have said that thing about you not being her brother otherwise."

"Comforting thought…" Zaveid mutters. Still, understanding  _ why _ Edna was acting like this was only one step towards solving the problem of helping her feel better.

"Now...as for helping her feel better…" Phoenix says, and he appears to be examining the recipe at his feet. "This would be for palmiers, correct?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. There was a heart next to it so I figured she might like it," Zaveid says with a hesitant shrug.

"Hmm…well if you can make them, you're in luck. They're Edna's favorite and Eizen always used them to bribe her into doing things," Phoenix says.

Zaveid really doesn't want to know how the normin knows that. This guy was creeping on the Earth Malak siblings a little too much…

"I suppose I should get started then...this thing is complicated as all hell," Zaveid sighs, standing up and taking the recipe with him. "If I get it right, though, I'm sure Edna will be happy."

And making her happy was all that mattered.

* * *

Zaveid's glad he at least had the foresight to prepare more than one batch, because the first two attempts come out as completely hideous disasters doomed for the trash. At least he doesn't have a Reaper's Curse hindering him, so the third time truly does seem to be the charm. While they're in the oven, Edna (who Zaveid's surprised he hadn't woken up yet already) wanders into the kitchen, a blanket draped around her shoulders.

"How are you feeling?" he asks, about ready to check her temperature again but also thinking about the incident earlier in the day and hoping she doesn't mention it.

"Are you making palmiers?" she asks in response, completely ignoring his question. Which was pretty typical Edna behavior.

"Oh, uh, yeah. The first two batches didn't work out, though…" Zaveid says with a sheepish laugh. 

Oddly, Edna doesn't comment on it, instead sitting down at the table and looking at the oven expectantly. 

There's a moment of silence before she speaks.

"Brother's first batch was worse."

Was she...willingly talking about Eizen to him? That was weird. In all the time Zaveid had spent with her, she remained stubbornly cagey on the subject, only ever seeming to bring Eizen up if Zaveid mentioned him first, or if she was saying Zaveid wasn't Eizen or the fact that Eizen wasn't here. Still, he doesn't want to ruin the moment, so he stays silent, hoping she continues.

"He burned all of the cookies. The oven also exploded. I got hurt pretty badly, but that didn't matter to me. I was used to bad things happening to me when I was with him...I just accepted it as normal. Still, I ate every single one of the cookies he made me…" Edna trails off, her voice a bit wistful, and Zaveid understands part of the reason Eizen would leave her. An incident as dangerous as that, a result of cookies?

The timer dings, so Zaveid is spared having to say anything in response, instead busying himself with removing the (finally actually edible looking) cookies from the oven. When he turns around, he sees Edna pulling on Phoenix's head, but she makes absolutely no comment about the fact the normin seemed to have moved from her bedroom.

"I don't know if they'll be as good as his," Zaveid says apologetically, setting the cookies down in front of Edna. "But I hope you like them at least."

Edna doesn't say anything, taking a cookie and biting into it with zero regard for the fact they just came out of the oven.  _ It was such a good thing Zaveid was a wind Malak.  _ Zaveid decides to try one as well, and he can understand why Edna would love them so much. The two of them eat the cookies in silence, but for once it's not tense, and Zaveid doesn't feel any hostility from Edna at all. 

These palmiers really were a magic charm…

After finishing her cookies, Edna stands up, pulling her blanket even tighter around her shoulders, and begins to leave the room without saying anything else to Zaveid. And then she pauses...turning around slowly to look at him with a gaze so similar to her brother's and yet much softer. 

“Zaveid,” Edna says quietly. 

“Yeah?”

“You’re not my brother,” she says, looking down as she shuffles her feet.

“I know,” Zaveid sighs, trying to ignore the sting the words once again pierce into his heart.

“No, listen. You’re not my brother,  _ but _ … You don’t need to be. You’re fine the way you are.”

There’s an awkward silence between the two, Edna refusing to look up as Zaveid can tell her face is growing pink. And he’s pretty sure that can’t be blamed on her fever at this point. 

“Thanks,” she says quickly, turning around and quickly shuffling back to her room.

“Edna?” Zaveid calls after her. 

She pauses, but doesn’t say anything. 

“...Anytime.”


End file.
